Monday, February 27, 2012

Kids learn from what they see about how to deal with their emotions, with conflicts, with impulses, and they learn violence from the adults in their environment, including media.

Events like this result from our culture of gun violence. Expanding gun carry, expanding who we can shoot and when we can shoot directly makes events like this more likely to occur. It sends the wrong message about what it means to be an adult, and how people SHOULD respond to situations.

Shooting is NOT what we want, it is not what we should make more legal. It is not acceptable from older people and it certainly is not acceptable from kids.

We need to send the message by our laws and by example that this is NOT how responsible adults behave, that this is undesirable behavior.

What we DO need to be doing to set a better example is to honor the UNARMED teacher who protected students, who chased the gun wielding kid out of the school before anyone else could be hurt, as an example of good behavior, honorable and brave behavior. THAT is courage that should be recognized, honored, celebrated and rewarded; NOT the example of more people shooting other people in a crisis. THAT is the only way to discourage this kind of occurrence, not more guns, and certainly not adults shooting students with guns.

At least four students were injured in a shooting Monday morning at
Chardon High School in Chardon, Ohio, according to Cleveland television
station WKYC.
Authorities say the alleged gunman is in custody. A
spokesperson for the sheriff's office would not confirm whether the
shooter is male or a student.
Some students told Fox 8 News they saw two gunmen.
FBI
agent Scott Wilson said after Monday morning's shooting that there was
one suspected shooter. He wouldn't discuss the extent of the students'
injuries.
According to WKBN.com, police scanner traffic is
reporting three victims are in critical condition and one is stable.
Medical helicopters are converging on the Wal-Mart in Chardon, where a
landing zone has been set up.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported
the shooting happened in the cafeteria, according to a waiting parent,
Jessica Bryant, whose daughter had seen it and sent her a text message.
Another parent,
Jeannette Roth, said her son told her the shooting happened while
students were eating breakfast and waiting for first period. She told
the paper a student "stood up and started shooting, and then it was
chaos." Nearly 1,100 students attend Chardon High School.
Students fled and locked themselves in classrooms for safety.
Civil deputy Erin Knife, of the Geauga County Sheriff's Office, says the shooting was reported around 7:30 a.m.
Schools in the area are locked down.
Chardon is located about 30 miles east of Cleveland.

From the number of recent shootings at WalMarts, it makes sense they'd be the go-to site for the evacuation of the injured.

Clearly, people with guns are dangerous to other people, in public places, in shopping centers, in schools. And thank you WalMart for making your parking lot available as a public service for the evacuation of wounded, including your own employees and shoppers after shootings. It is very public service minded of you. Of course, WalMart, you also do a brisk business in selling guns and ammo to these people. Having been a fan of the peopleofwalmart.com site, when I need a good laugh.......I'd be happier if they didn't sell to these people.

Presumably the employees get a discount on these purchases, making it both cheaper and more convenient for the subsequent parking lot medical evacuations after the in-store shootings.

And for an additional connection to more pro-gun legislation, and more gun and ammo sales? Look no further than ALEC, and the 2010 list of - pardon the pun - the 'big guns' behind ALEC, the organization that drafts so much of the right wing extremist legislation, from 2nd Amendment to Immigration laws like the Arizona 'papers please' legislation. The American Association for Justice (formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America) report, available in pdf here for 2010 - ALEC_report.pdf, shows...who else?

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